File 2764/1904 Pt 2 'Baghdad Railway: General negotiations 1908-10.' [‎329r] (672/799)

[This Docjimer\t is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
BAGDAD RAILWAY,
SECRET.
Section 1,
[July 3.]
[23503]
No. 1.
Memorandum respecting the Bagdad Railway.
ON the occasion of the German Emperor’s visit to Windsor last November the
subject of the Bagdad Railway came under discussion.
Mr. Haldane, who discussed the subject with His Majesty at two separate
audiences, handed to His Majesty a Memorandum of a private conversation with
Sir E. Grey, intimating that His Majesty’s Government could not discuss the
question with Germany alone, hut only together with Erance and Russia, whose
interests were also involved.
The Emperor at first expressed doubt as to whether discussion d quatre was
practicable; but, after learning from his Eoreign Secretary that certain pourparlers
with Russia had already taken place he modified this view, and in the second
interview with Mr. Haldane, which was in the early morning of the 15th November,
he stated that he did not anticipate any difficulty. At this interview Herr von Schoen
and Count Metternich were both present.
As a result, after a long discussion, the Emperor said that he cordially concurred
in the Memorandum which had been handed to him as a basis on which to proceed;
that the understanding was complete; and that he would like to get on as quickly as
possible. He was very hopeful that good business would come to all the four Powers
concerned, and he would ask Herr von Schoen to proceed at once to London to take
the initiative by making a proposal from Germany.
By the end of this interview Count Metternich’s attitude, which had at first been
critical, had become so greatly modified that he observed that there should be no
difficulty about a discussion d quatre, and it was both legitimate and natural that His
Majesty’s Government should wish to proceed in full consultation with Erance and
Russia.
On the 15th November Herr von Schoen called at the Eoreign Office and saw
Sir E. Grey. He expressed great satisfaction at the prospect of now coming to an
agreement with His Majesty’s Government about the Bagdad Railway, and recognized
their desire to have a gate at the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. end. He recognized that the Memo
randum communicated by Mr. Haldane formed a practicable basis for discussion.
Sir E. Grey assumed that His Majesty’s Government should wait till they
heard from the German Government. Herr von Schoen said he must consult
M. Isvolsky to see whether full discussion between the four Powers might not be
begun without further carrying discussion with Russia a stage further.
On the 25th June Count Metternich called at the Eoreign Office, and, in the
course of conversation with Sir C. Hardinge, stated that his Government had
renounced the idea of summoning a Conference d quatre at Berlin. The Ambassador
himself had strongly opposed such an arrangement, and he had not at all approved of
what had taken place at Windsor, on the ground that such a Conference as that
proposed was foredoomed to failure, and would only serve to accentuate the difference
between Germany and the three other Powers. It was therefore no longer proposed
to have such a Conference, but Germany would always be ready to discuss with
His Majesty’s Government the question of a terminus on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Foreign Office, July 3, 1908.